A.barbarous, i.e. non-Greek, foreign, not in Hom. (but cf. βαρβαρόφωνος)“; β. ψυχαί” Heraclit.107; esp. as Subst. βάρβαροι, οἱ, originally all non-Greek-speaking peoples, then specially of the Medes and Persians, A.Pers.255, Hdt.1.58, etc.: generally, opp. Ἕλληνες, Pl.Plt.262d, cf. Th.1.3, Arist.Pol.1252b5, Str.14.2.28; “βαρβάρων Ἕλληνας ἄρχειν εἰκός” E.IA1400; “β. καὶ δοῦλον ταὐτὸ φύσει” Arist.Pol. 1252b9; οἱ β. δουλικώτεροι τὰ ἤθη φύσει τῶν Ἑλλήνων ib.1285a20; β. πόλεμον war with the barbarians, Th.2.36 codd.; ἡ βάρβαρος (sc. γῆ), opp. αἱ Ἑλληνίδες πόλεις, Th.2.97, cf.A.Pers.187, X.An.5.5.16. Adv. -ρως, opp. Ἑλληνικῶς, Porph.Abst.3.3.
2. esp. of language, “φωνὴ β.” A.Ag.1051, Pl.Prt.341c; “γλῶσσα β.” S.Aj.1263, cf. Hdt.2.57, Str. l. c. supr., etc.; συλλραφαί Hippias 6 D.; of birds, Ar.Av.199. Adv., βαρβάρως, ὠνόμασται have foreign names, Str.10.3.17.
II. after the Persian war, brutal, rude, “ἀμαθὴς καὶ β.” Ar.Nu. 492; “τὸ τῆς φύσεως β. καὶ θεοῖς ἐχθρόν” D.21.150; “σκαιὸς καὶ β. τὸν τρόπον” Id.26.17; “β. ἀνηλεής τε” Men.Epit.477: Comp. “-ώτερος” X. Eph.2.4: Sup., “πάντων βαρβαρώτατος θεῶν” Ar.Av.1573, cf. Th.8.98, X.An.5.4.34.
III. used by Jews of Greeks, LXX2 Ma.2.21.